The Demon's Residence •|• p. jm + k. th

4

Jimin opened the door, hearing the hinges squeak ever so eerily. Dust swarmed the air. It was so thick that Jimin could barely see the dusk light seep through the torn curtains and broken shades.

The house somehow looked nicer on the inside than on the outside. There was still furniture around, but it was covered in burn marks and rips. There were vines and leaves that ran down through the roof and hung like chandeliers from the ceiling. There were stairs to the far right corner that didn't look safe whatsoever. The wallpaper was torn down and ripped. "Good, God..." Jimin whispered under his breath as he shakily took his first step inside of the house.

Jimin closed the door softly behind him and walked over to a chain that led to a light bulb. He pulled the chain and immediately saw the room light up. He plopped down on a small recliner, causing dust to fly everywhere. He coughed at the sudden particles, waving his hand to try to get rid of them.

As the dust cleared, Jimin sighed to himself. "Okay, this isn't so bad. Nothing's gone wrong so far." Jimin says aloud, trying to reassure himself. Suddenly, a loud crash come from above him. Jimin instantly froze. The stories that his friends had told him starting to fill his head. Was there really a demon in this house?

Jimin thought for a while if he should investigate the sound. He didn't want to, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if he knew something could be upstairs. He slowly stood up from the chair and walked over to a small table, where he had spotted a flashlight. After grabbing it, he approached the stairs, climbing them one by one, hoping that nothing would jump out at him.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he walked to the first room he saw. It looked to be some kind of old bedroom. There was a small doll made of yarn leaning against the corner that caught Jimin's attention. The doll had been surrounded by spider webs and dust, so Jimin decided to let it be.

Another loud crash sounded in the room next to him. Jimin took a gulp and built up the bravery to investigate. As he approached the room, it was pitch black. He shone his flashlight around the room, searching for a light switch. "Aha!" He whispered as he spotted a switch on the wall.

Jimin turned the switch and the room became dimly lit. He searched the room looking for any sign of life or something that could have made those loud crashes. The only thing he spotted, though, was a small hole in the corner of the ceiling. "Oh, come on..." Jimin said lightly to himself, thinking that this was going to turn into some horror movie situation.

Jimin searched the room for something to defend himself with, just in case there was something there. He ended up using a small plank. Approaching the hole, scattering began to sound from inside. Jimin hesitated. "Okay. Come on. You can do this. There's no such thing as ghosts or demons or spirits or anything like that."

Jimin got closer and closer to the hole, shaking more with every step he took. "Okay, this is close enough." He said, taking his flashlight and lifting it up to the hole slowly. As the light hit the hole, a small figure flew out of the hole. Jimin shrieked and ducked down, shining his flashlight around the room desperately looking for whatever he saw.

His flashlight stopped on a small dresser, where a rather large pigeon sat. Jimin sighed and hung his head. "A pigeon. It's just a pigeon." The pigeon flew past him again and went into the hole. Jimin's flashlight followed it the whole way. "Sorry to disturb you." Jimin said with a light chuckle. He turned his flashlight off and turned back to exit the room.

But he froze.

Narrowed, bright, glowing green eyes with thin, cat-like pupils focused on him. Jimin's breath hitched. He was paralyzed. Low growling came from the same position as the eyes. Jimin shook uncontrollably. "Oh, God..." He whispered to himself.

Jimin somehow found the bravery to move. He flicked the flashlight on again. The eyes staring right through him widened, and whatever it was, let out a deep growl. Jimin slowly rose his hand shakily, seeing the light run over the floor and walls before moving over whatever was staring at him.

The light reveals what has Jimin so terrified, but it only scared him more. There stood what resembled a man, but had those glowing eyes and pointed canines. The figure's nails were sharpened to the point and the clothing it had on was torn and stained. The figure flinched as the light hit its eyes, letting out a sort of hissing noise.

"Would you get that damn light out of my eyes?" The figure requested. Jimin couldn't move. He was too scared, shocked, and nervous at the same time. "Fine, I'll do it myself." The figure stated. He flicks his fingers and the flashlight immediately shut off. Jimin jumped in reaction. He could no longer see the figure's eyes, which caused him to panic. He dropped the flashlight and took off, running into the hallway, but feeling himself getting grabbed by the shirt collar.

"That's a bit rude, don't you think? Running off after meeting someone new?" The figure asked mockingly. Jimin couldn't answer. He was too focused on releasing himself from the strange and terrifying creature's grasp. "I'd think you'd want to stop struggling. It won't get you anywhere safe."

After a few minutes, Jimin became tired. His efforts slowly faded into nothing. "Please let me go." Jimin whispered, holding back tears. "I promise I'll leave. I'll never come back here again. I'll never say anything to anyone and-"

"God, you talk too much." The figure stated, releasing Jimin. He immediately grabbed the flashlight, rushed downstairs, and jumped onto the recliner from before, shining the flashlight frantically back to the stairs, waiting to see the figure emerge from the shadows.

"Boo." Jimin gasped at the sudden whisper in his ear and fell from the recliner, shining the flashlight behind him and seeing the rather tall figure. "Look, I know this isn't my place," Jimin began as the figure stared at him with a smirk on his face. "But I was just trying to prove a point to my friends. I can leave no problem, man. I won't say anything about this and I'll never come back here again."

The figure merely laughed. "You don't know what you've gotten into, do you, boy?" He asked. "You've trespassed onto my property."

"I know," Jimin began. "And I'm sor-" Before Jimin could continue, He was cut off by the figure's hand tightly wrapped around his neck. "I'm not giving you any mercy, boy. You went somewhere you weren't supposed to." The figure smirked. "You went into the demon's residence."

Jimin gulped. He was scared stiff. His breath had already been unstable, and this hand wasn't helping. He could feel the figure's long, pointed nails dig into his soft skin. Jimin was praying at this point. He was terrified. On the verge of tears, he inhaled sharp, burning breaths.

"Now, you belong to me."